The concept of having intersecting paths in a natural but controlled area would, however, be the same. Planting trees of different habit close together is not usually recommended for overcrowding is a common fault. On the other hand, not every tree has to be an isolated specimen. It is appropriate to mention the work of that great landscape gardener, Capability Brown, who could visualise the effect of his plantings on landscape many years hence. Plantings of groups of trees of one species, such as lime or beech, three or five trees to a group, are today features in the landscapes of country estates. These result from planting about i8ft(5.5m) apart so that, as the trees increase in size, their heads grow together, to present one uniform outline (Fig. 12) supported by several stems. Group planting of this kind can be adopted to the very much smaller scale of modestly sized gardens. Malus, Crataegus or Sorbus, for instance, planted close together (in groups of a single kind, not mixed), will quickly form an integrated canopy, and in a large planting scheme have more impact than a single tree, or several trees planted widely apart. The kitchen garden is often considered essential and should be fitted into a part of the garden where good crops are likely to be produced. The vegetable and soft fruit section is sometimes placed right across the lower part of the garden, this forming a good work area that can be divided into plots of the desired size. For the serious grower it is the most convenient way of growing vegetables and fruits, but inevitably it foreshortens the garden. Again, it is possible to modify the practice used in gardens a century or more ago when the walled kitchen garden was intersected at right angles by gravel paths edged with box, behind which there were sometimes borders of herbaceous perennial plants. Under present-day conditions, maintenance considerations alone prevent the adoption of such lay-outs, but a modification of the theme is to make a gap 4 to 6ft(i.25 to 2m) wide, giving access to a grass walk flanked on each side by lavender and pillar roses trained against posts 10 to i2ft(3 to 3.75m) apart; or shrub roses, such as hybrid musks, terminating in an architectural feature or small tree, This gives a longer, more attractive view of the garden without the loss of too much space for growing vegetables or fruits. As an alternative to lavender and roses, cordon or espalier fruit trees could be planted about 2ft(6ocm) from the edge of the grass. These have the attraction of being both decorative and productive. As to providing a screen between the kitchen garden and the rest of the garden, a hedge, if planted, needs maintaining, it casts shade and wastes space. Panels of square pattern lattice, painted brown with a wood preservative, provide a useful means of division, and although not a total screen such panels do form an effective visual barrier. They also provide a support for trained fruit or ornamental climbing plants.